New Delhi
19 February 2008
"In Kandahar province, it's that border with Pakistan and places like Quetta where you continue to see the Taliban recruit, rearm and revitalise their effort to keep this insurgency alive," he said in an exclusive interview to this newspaper.
The minister said that the insurgents frequently cross over into Kandahar in Afghanistan and set off IEDs, rendering the roads and highways vulnerable to explosions. Suicide
Afghanistan, he said that Canada would be interested in partnering India in training the Afghan army and "mentoring" the security forces.
bombings are not uncommon, too.
The start of his five-day visit to India coincided with a suicide attack near a Canadian
military convoy in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, on Monday. In the attack, 37
civilians were killed and three Canadian troops injured.
About 80 Canadian troops have died so far in Afghanistan.
"Yesterday's attack speaks to ongoing volatility of the region," Mr MacKay said, and
hoped that Canada could learn from India's understanding of Pakistan and make
valuable gains from India's perspectives.
He believed that Canada, a NATO ally, can glean some valuable insights from India as to
what is happening in Pakistan. He hoped to do just that, in his talks with Minister of
Defence AK Antony and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan.
"We're going to see certainly from our perspective an elevated effort to reach out to India
and we hope that this will be reciprocated," Mr MacKay said before his talks with Mr
Antony and Mr Narayanan on Tuesday.
He met with Minister of State of External Affairs Anand Sharma on Monday.
Mr MacKay said that non-NATO countries can and are making significant contributions in
Afghanistan. Australia, with over 900 troops, is the largest non-NATO contributor. India
does not contribute troops but she renders development assistance.
Appreciating India's efforts to promote good governance and democracy-building in
Afghanistan, he said that Canada would be interested in partnering India in training Mr MacKay looked forward to "bringing back some focus" to the India-Canada
bilateral relationship on the defence side. He referred training opportunities and sharing of information as potential areas of cooperation.Positions in Staff Colleges and student exchanges would also be on the table. "In future
there are training opportunities and possibility of joint exercises," he said in response to
a question on military manoeuvres.
"This visit will signal a new era in cooperation ... we are hoping that we can open the
door further to a stronger defence bilateral relationship," he added. He looked forward to
a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Canada.
The reluctance of some of NATO's European allies to make a fuller contribution to the war
on terror being fought in southern Afghanistan has compounded matters for the
Canadians, and the minister made no bones about it.
"A partner is essentially what we would like to see. In the south of Afghanistan we need a
battalion that's combat ready. So we are reaching out in all directions looking for
contributions on the troops side but also certain equipment," he said.
"Afghanistan is our number one foreign policy priority," Mr MacKay added. About 2,500
Canadian troops are fighting in the volatile south of Afghanistan, alongside troops from
the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Canada is in the midst of a debate whether to extend troop presence in Afghanistan
beyond February 2009. A parliamentary vote is expected soon, although a panel has
said Canada must stay the course, but with certain contingencies.
According to the panel, headed by former deputy prime minister John Manley, one
thousand more soldiers would be needed in southern Afghanistan. Also, there should be
equipment contributions for road surveillance.
"Our preference clearly as a government would be to extend the military mission to
match the redevelopment mission as signatories of the Afghanistan Compact," Mr
MacKay said, suggesting that the Canadian troops could remain until 2011.
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